Shoelaces
by LouiseFinch
Summary: He was in seventh grade when he was dared to step on Barbara Gordon's shoelace. One shot.


The world is a complicated place. And life is even more complicated because you never know what it's going to throw at you. Or in his case, what it's going to shove into you. Everyday is the same, every routine is just like the week before. And then comes that one thing in life that throws you way off course. You just never see it coming. He knows he didn't, because the fact that he saw a girl hurtling towards him, back first, should have been his first indication that this day just wouldn't be the same.

* * *

He walks through the hallway, not focusing on anything in particular, and becomes momentarily stunned when he finds himself shoved up against a cold, hard window. _Why can't I move?_ Maybe because there is something flung over him like an animal guarding its food.

"Any chance that you're planning on getting off?" he asks. It's only then that he takes in his surroundings. The "thing" that fell on him is actually a she, and right now that _she_ is a mess of unruly orange hair and baggy clothing.

"I'm sorry about that. I promise, falling on people isn't a regular thing for me," her voice catches him off guard. _Why is it so familiar, and more importantly, where have I heard it before? Soft spoken, but with the slightest swing at the end like if someone were to step on your foot. No, it can't possibly be. . . that voice_. But his suspicions are only confirmed when he turns around and sees the face that has been racing in and out of his mind for five years. It takes him a moment to regain his composure and spit out something coherent.

"You. . . um, took quite a fall there. Are you okay?" he asks.

"Fine. Again, I'm sorry for bumping into you. I was pushed." The reason he recognizes her voice is because it hasn't changed ever since.

He was in seventh grade when he was dared to step on Barbara Gordon's shoelace that constantly found itself untied. Back then, anyone would do anything for attention and he guesses he was part of that majority. Barbara was a nice girl. She's the type of person who would stay behind after class to make sure that nobody forgot anything. But being nice doesn't get you popularity. He doesn't know what made him do it, but he would take it all back if he had the chance just by one look at her half-bruised face that she sported for several weeks. And time in the limelight will only last for so long after one bad catch that costs you the entire game.

Although the proof was right there on her face, staring back at her in the mirror, she never confronted him about it. And that was what made him feel so guilty.

So this is why he finds himself in a do or die moment where you think your head is on right, but your consequences don't come until later.

"Barbara! Wait up," he yells and runs the ten steps that she put between them, "who did you say . . . pushed you again?"

"I didn't, but if you wanted to know, it was Lucas," her voice doesn't sound angry at all, if anything it sounds disappointed. He should have guessed it was him. _Well I guess we have one enemy in common now. He's a shover and a hater who blames me for the school's loss._

"You know, he shouldn't be able to do this to you Barbara, to anyone," he says.

"We all know that, but we all also know that he wouldn't listen, Dick. Especially to you," Barbara reasons. He never thought he would ever hear his name coming from her again. And if he ever _wants_ to hear it again, something has to be done.

Maybe he does it because he feels like he has something to prove to her. Maybe it's because Lucas deserves it. Maybe it's because she doesn't. Whatever the reason, he was the one who made his life miserable. So he doesn't think when he strides into the lunchroom fifth period and casually places his foot down on Lucas' shoelace at the exact moment he takes a step. And it makes him happy to see a slight smile on Barbara Gordon's face when he looks across the lunchroom.

* * *

So that's how he wound up here. On a Friday afternoon, alone, in Mr. Diller's stark classroom with his cheek against the desk shoving leftover eraser shavings off of the side. A dreaded nine letter word written in all capitals across the board with one name underneath it, "Richard."

No, today was not the same, the routine not like last week's because he has something new. It can be considered old, but not when it's been out of his reach for so long. It took him until Junior year to figure out that she was never mad at him. That all those years they spent together before that stupid mistake he made in seventh grade has not gone to waste. He guesses he can consider this the day that Barbara Gordon was shoved back into his life, right where she should be. He has a new, old best friend and it only took him five years to realize it.

* * *

 ** _Short and simple I hope you enjoyed it. I wrote this short story back in eighth grade for an assignment and I decided to just change the names of the characters to Dick and Babs so it's OOC and definitely not canon but there's why._**


End file.
